Easter 2010

Labor Day

Over labor day weekend we met up with our friends Mark and Kate in Florence and took Caden on his first boat ride! He loved it! He sat there for the longest time just taking it all in, with a really serious look on his face. After a while he started moving around the boat a good bit and Mr. Mark even let him "drive." We stopped to swim for a bit and Caden loved jumping off in the water to Daddy, and then climbing up the ladder and doing it all over again, and again, and again. He loved pointing to things out on the water like birds or "big boats." He had such a great time. Thank you Mark and Kate for a special weekend!

Surprise!!

I'd been planning it for almost a year in my mind! So when I returned to the states in Jan I got busy very fast trying to pull off a surprise birthday party for my sweet husband! It was a huge success! John was totally clueless and so suprised he just stood there silent taking it all in. I thought he was mad at first because he just stood there. He was floored and it made him feel so special that so many of his dear friends came, and most of them had to travel to get there. Here are a few pictures:

Happy 3oth Birthday John!!

(March 2009)

Celebratory Beach Vacation

I can't remember what I've posted on here and what I haven't. The plan was to print all of this each year as a keepsake and I've basically left out everything that's happened since 2009 started! Sigh... I'm especially sad about all the cute things Caden has done in the last 3 months we've been back in Huntsville...

When we arrived back in Huntsville John immediately started getting his resume out to people, meeting people, etc. It was so cool to see God at work during this time. John received two job offers in the same week! One was a government job and the other was a contractor job. We prayed and talked and weighed out all the pros and cons and in the end John felt led to accept the contract job as a Systems Analyst for a company called AEgis (pronounced EE-gis) Technologies. John's been working there for almost a month now and he really loves it! We feel very blessed to have found a job so quickly in the current economy. And, because I love to brag on my amazing husband he actually got a call for a 3rd interview from another big name in the contractor world shortly after accepting his job with AEgis! :)

After signing on the dotted line we headed to the beach for a mini-vacation to celebrate! Of course the rain rolled in when we got there and rained (I'm talking torrential, relentless downpours, hurricane force winds, and tornadoes) the entire time we were there! Fortunately our condo was less than a mile from the outlets so we shopped our hearts out! It was SO much fun to go on such a shopping spree. We spoiled ourselves! It was so much fun though after the lack of shopping available to us in Korea.

As our time drew close to an end we saw the forecast predicted beautiful sunny skies the day we were supposed to leave, so we extended our vacation one extra day so we could at least see the sun and show Caden the beach! It was an amazing trip!

Dr. Fish

I'm sure you've heard before that trends start overseas and eventually work their way to America... well this is one that I don't see myself doing again when it makes it here...

Dr. Fish is apparently popular in European and Asian countries. It's basically a giant pool/tub/etc with hundreds of little carp that eat the dead skin off of your feet. For a full exfoliation you will need to let them nibble (can I just say ICK) for about 15-20 minutes. I couldn't last even 15 seconds!!

It was the strangest sensation... it tickled a lot, and kind of stung just a little. John said something interesting when he tried it.. he said if the sensation was mechanical he wouldn't mind it at all... he actually might even enjoy it just a little... but knowing it was living, slimy, squirmy, little fishies (his quote exactly- haha) made it harder to tolerate...

Can you tell from my expression that I'm only tolerating this for the camera...

Ick! They were so aggressive!

John's turn. He let them feast on his flesh for several minutes...

This picture really captures the experience of it best...

And the video... enjoy!

So... would you do Dr. Fish???

We made it!

It's been over a week since we arrived back in Hunstville, Alabama! We flew out of Korea on Thursday Jan 22, at 6pm, and arrived in Huntsville on Thursday Jan 22, at 8pm! Only two hours of travel! Haha! Wouldn't that have been nice! Total travel time was actually 25 hours, but that doesn't include the hours of "awake time" we had since Caden decided to wake up at 4:45 am the day we left (which would have put us just over 30 hours of travel time, before arriving in Huntsville).

God saw some flaws in our planning and we truly think he knew Caden needed to wake us up early that day. It actually worked out quite well. Caden slept the entire 2 hour bus ride to the airport and we actually had to wake him up when we arrived!

At the airport we faced our next big challenge: getting all of our 7 suitcases, 6 carry on's, a stroller, a pack and play, and a car seat from the bus to the gate all while toting a toddler. God, again, provided for us! There was a bellman (or whatever you call them) waiting at the exact spot the bus unloaded us and he took care of it ALL!

The rest of the trip I will share in little "snippets" with the pictures below:

We arrived at the airport about 2.5 hours before our flight opened. We planned it this way hoping we would be the first in line to get our tickets when the flight opened and maybe get a bulkhead seat. So, for lunch we picnicked with some McDonald's on the benches by the Delta counter.

Our luggage... We had a lot of luggage (as you can see). Many of you are probably thinking we paid a pretty penny to get all these bags on the plane, but actually Delta allows 10 bag up to 100 lbs each (that's 1,000 pounds total!) for military members traveling on orders. Nice!

We decided to check our stroller under the plane and use a handy little strap to convert our rolling carry-on suitcase into a stroller by attaching the car seat! The best $12 we ever spent!

Once through security we found our gate and next to it was a play area for kids. This was just one of about 30 of these play areas situated throughout the airport. Korea is just so kid/baby friendly! The play areas were all very clean. Caden played here until John's tummy told him it was time for a snack...

We had some ice cream for a snack... and it was here that we think we lost Caden's little teddy bear that I bought for him when I was pregnant. It is so hard on a mommy to lose something with sentimental value... We realized the bear was missing as we were boarding the plane and I got permission to go run through the airport frantically searching for it, but returned empty handed...

At gate 113 (our gate) Caden spotted the little walk way things that are like flat escalators... he has an obsession with escalators lately so he spent the remaining 30 minutes or so before we boarded the plane riding on these. John rigged up the suitcase that he wanted to carry (but was too heavy for him) with some string so Caden thought he was hot stuff pulling his little suitcase around!

On the plane we were fortunate enough to get the bulkhead seats, and ones by the window at that! Caden stayed awake about the first two hours of the flight, and then he was spent! He was so tired that it took nothing more than his blanket and paci and he was out in minutes! He slept for about an hour, then woke up briefly trying to roll over, but found he was strapped in his car seat... so we decided to put a pallet on the floor under his seat and let him sleep there... and he did for 4 more hours! In the picture below you can see the little bulkhead area where he slept.

Here is is watching a video on Daddy's tray table (his wouldn't come up over the seat- one disadvantage of bulkheads).

After a 13.5 hour flight we arrived in Atlanta, quickly transitioned to a new plane to take us to Huntsville and an hour later (Caden slept the entire time) we arrived home!! After exiting the gate in Huntsville, Caden wandered over to the nearest bench in the deserted airport and climbed up... he was ready for sleep!

Here we are greeting my family (it took two trucks to get all our stuff home)...

We're very glad to be back!!

The last week or so...

I'm behind.

I'm behind in everything! But, that comes with the territory of moving in just two weeks and having a little toddler that is increasingly more demanding of my time each day (not because he needs/wants me but because it is necessary for the safety of us all)! So, in an attempt to catch up I thought I'd post a few pictures...

On our way to church, the "cool guys" in their shades

Cutie in his sunglasses... he's so proud of these.

Daddy put Caden's shoes on backward... and we got all the way to the store and had been shopping for a long time before we noticed! :)

Kuh-Guh

"Kuh-Guh! Kuh-Guh!!!"

(and progressively louder and more demanding he says,) "KUH-GUH!"

That is one of Caden's new words. He has at least one new one a day these days. This one, though, is one of my favorites. It means "color." At least once a day Caden goes to the drawer where we keep the crayons and paper and starts yelling, "kuh-guh!"

A few days ago, Caden used the word in a different setting and I realized that I often only recognize his words when they are used in the context I am used to. It makes me wonder how many other things he is saying I haven't picked up on yet! You see, a few days ago Caden was carrying around his little chair yelling "kuh-guh." At the time I hadn't made the connection yet that he was saying color. I was trying to figure out what he was saying/doing with the chair. It all registered for us when he brought the chair over to the table and said "color" again... you see, we have a rule that he is well aware of. He is only allowed to color when he is sitting down. Once he stands up from his chair and moves away from the table, we take the crayons away... Anyway, just a funny little story that made us chuckle... Enjoy the pictures of Caden kuh-guh-ing. :)

Multi-tasking already

and for the record, he did not draw the "gansta" Santa, that would be Daddy's handiwork.

Bowling, 17.5 mo

We took Caden bowling this weekend.

Daddy's Little Helper 17.5 mo

Helping Daddy take out the garbage...

China Part 1 - The Shopping -

I have so much to say and share about our trip to China, but let's face it.... the thing you are all probably MOST curious about is how we made out with all the great shopping! So, that is where I'll start.

We visited several markets in China. We were told to go to the Pearl, Silk, and Lido markets. Somehow we only made it to Lido because our driver, or whoever we got to translate a note to our taxi driver, kept taking us to the wrong markets. Of course it took us a while (each time) to figure out we weren't where we were supposed to be, but we still can't complain because the shopping was still great! We toured the Lido Market (don't recommend it), Silk Street Pearl Market (which is neither the silk OR pearl market... but I can see how confusing it could be), and Yashow Market.

Yashow Clothing Market

This market was one of our favorites. It is mainly a clothing market with things like polo, Spyder, North Face, Columbia, etc... We also got some sunglasses and pashminas here, too.

The vendors at all of the markets carry all KINDS of stuff. Clothes, purses, scarves/pashminas, souvenir items, electronics, jewelry, etc. It's really quite overwhelming because in one market alone (Yashow, for example) there were 5 floors of shopping to sort through in only a short amount of time! The markets are all typically several floors high and they are set up in a similar way to craft fairs back in the states. It's best described as a ton of little cubicles where the vendors can display their goods as they choose. Some stalls/booths are more lavish than others (prime retail) and others are very simple and messy.

The vendors are mostly all very young (late teens, early twenties) Chinese women. The Chinese people are generally not as friendly or courteous as the Korean people. As you walk around the vendors are all shouting out at you "Lady, Lady, come here pretty Lady! I give you good deal. You need pashminas?" It's quite loud and the vendors CAN be very aggressive, although they are not always. Sometimes you might walk by and they'll grab your arm and try to pull you in to their booth. They usually quote you a price that is outrageously high at first... after much (much!) haggling you can usually walk away only paying about 4-10% of their original offer. Yes, you read that correctly! I really think the haggling is a game to them.

John found a good bargaining technique and he was quite the expert by the end of the trip. I will say that my husband has never really enjoyed shopping before, but I think he had more fun than I did on this trip! It really was a game to him. He start joking around and laughing at, and eventually with, the vendors. Almost like flirting with them, just cutting up and joking around about how crazy their prices are, etc... and before long he'd have them talked down to a decent amount, but still more than what we knew we could get it for... so we'd walk away. One step, two steps, three steps (come back sir), four steps, five steps, (okay, $20), keep walking, six steps, seven steps, (okay $15), keeping walking, and walking, ($14), and walking ($13), and then finally you hear the words you want to hear "Okay, okay, okay... come back, you win!"

So, what exactly did we buy in China? Too much! Ha, ha! But we had such a good time!

Here is a run down of our purchases:

Mens Spyder Ski Suit

Spyder Goggles

Spyder Gloves (2)

Sunglasses: Armani, Chanel, Ray Ban, Oakley

Cashmere and Silk Pashminas/Scarves (19)

Children's Spyder Ski Jackets (3)

Tiffany Necklace and Bracelet set

Chopsticks and a Beijing Magnet (our touristy type souvenirs)

North Face Hiking Backpack (small size)

Louis Vuitton Large Bag and matching wallet

Jimmy Choo Bag

Gucci Bag

Chanel Bag

1 set of Callaway Golf clubs complete with head covers, carry bag/travel bag, umbrella, and hat

Things we could have bought but didn't:

Uggs and many other name brand shoes (pumas, etc)

North Face/Columbia Ski Apparel and Jackets

Silk Blankets

Pearls (I heard a story about a girl who bought a set for $200, it appraised in America for $2000)

Jade jewelry and carvings

Ipods and other electronics

Polo shirts/pants/etc

Silk ties

and the list goes on and on

John trying on his Spyder ski pants with his favorite vendor of the whole trip, JoJo.

John sort of made friends with some of the vendors, JoJo being one of them. She told us that Americans are typically her best customers because they will pay a lot more for items than people from other countries. At the same time Americans are also her 'worst' customers because the ones that have done their homework prior to shopping know that you can get things for dirt cheap and know how to bargain. JoJo wrote out directions for us to visit another market where her sister works, selling sunglasses...

So, in a city filled with 17 million people, we set off to yet another market in search of sunglasses. On the fourth floor there were about 50+ vendors selling sunglasses. Imagine our surprise when we just so happen to chose the exact vendor where JoJo's sister works! Here is a picture of JoJo's sister (KoKo- notice a pattern?) in the purple elephant shirt, and the other vendor we 'worked' with whose name I do not remember.

Here I am with my friend, Kim, that I met on the tour shopping through a catalog of purses.

I will end this post with some "close up" shots of our loot!

Stay tuned for more from our China Trip!